The Good Intentions One Couple Has for Georgetown's Most Expensive Properties

April 23, 2015

DC Urban Turf

Lark Turner

In 2011, they purchased Evermay for $22 million. A year later, they paid the heavily-discounted price of $11 million for Halcyon House. And just recently, they went under contract on the Fillmore School, listed for $14 million. The couple behind these massive purchases of tony and singular properties in Georgetown will not redevelop them, as Georgetown neighbors feared.

Instead, biotech entrepreneurs Sachiko Kuno and Ryuji Ueno, whose S&R Foundation will soon own all three properties, has non-profit intentions for all three.

Evermay and Halcyon House are already being put to good use. Halcyon House has been turned into an incubator for social entrepreneurs who “are given a four-month residency and eight months of rent-free workspace,” according to the website, as well as variety of PR, legal and funding resources. The incubator also hosts speakers and events for the Georgetown community. Evermay serves as the primary headquarters for the S&R Foundation.

The Fillmore School at 1801 35th Street, NW was seen by developers as ripe for redevelopment when it was listed for sale. The most recent proposal for the site included building 10 new three-story rowhouses on the property’s parking lot and turning the school building into 14 condos.

Instead, Fillmore will become an arts incubator. The building, according to a news release, “will serve as a platform to grow talented artists in the fields of fine, visual and performing arts, maintaining the educational use of the building and its place as part of the vibrant arts landscape in the nation’s capital.” Georgetowners can take a deep breath: Fillmore will be just another real-estate jewel in S&R’s profile — as residences aren’t in the plans.